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Tour a home retrofitted to prevent basement flooding

TORONTO, Aug. 18 /CNW/ - The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
(ICLR), with support from the City of Toronto, has retrofitted a Toronto home
to reduce the risk of basement flooding. ICLR and City of Toronto staff will
be onsite to provide a tour and answer questions:
Tour date: Wednesday, August 19
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: 53 Parkview Ave., North York (the home is located one block
east of Yonge Street and eight blocks south of Finch Avenue
East)
On August 19, 2005, a major rainstorm in the Greater Toronto Area caused
more than $500 million in insured damage - the costliest natural catastrophe
in Ontario's history and the second most expensive on record for the country.
On that day, more than 150 millimetres of rain fell on parts of Toronto during
a three-hour deluge that impacted a wide swath of land from Kitchener-Waterloo
to Durham Region. More than 13,000 sewer backup claims were filed with
homeowner insurers. Since 2005, there have been several severe storms causing
basement flooding. Homeowners need to be educated on how to protect themselves
and reduce flooding events.
At this event, the media will receive practical tips to share on how
homeowners can reduce the chance of basement flooding.
Toronto is Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home
to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine
of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America.
Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in
delivering public services. 2009 marks the 175th anniversary of Toronto's
incorporation as a city. Toronto's government is dedicated to prosperity,
opportunity and livability for all its residents.
Established in 1998 by Canada's property and casualty insurers, ICLR is
an independent, not-for-profit research institute based in Toronto and at the
University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. ICLR is a centre of
excellence for disaster loss prevention research and education. ICLR's
research staff is internationally recognized for pioneering work in a number
of fields including wind and seismic engineering, atmospheric sciences, water
resources engineering and economics. Multi-disciplined research is a
foundation for ICLR's work to build communities more resilient to disasters.